Cossack raid on Istanbul (1615)

The Cossack communities emerged in the fourteenth century in the Ukrainian wild steppes and by the Dnieper River. Initially, they were mostly composed of runaway serfs, further augmented by adventurers. Later on, Cossacks developed highly militaristic communities largely responsive for raids on Tatars. Its fighters were considered skilled fighters and surrounding states such as the Kingdom of Poland employed them in times of conflicts.[2] During the 1500s there were constant attacks on the Crimean Tatars and Ottoman possessions either to plunder treasure or liberate Christian slaves.[3] By the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the fighters began raiding communities in the Black Sea including the cities of Varna, Perekop, Bilhorod, Izmail, and the Turkish Trebizond.

In May 1615, Cossacks on eighty small boats (Ukr. Chayka), each one carrying approximately 50 men, went on the raid to Turkey. By mid-June they managed to cross the Black Sea and to land on the coast in the vicinity of Constantinople. After that, Cossacks captured and set on fire the Istanbul neighborhood of Scutari (now: Üsküdar), then the ports of Mizevna and Archioca. After raiding the city, the Cossacks went back to Ukraine.

Sultan Ahmed I, from the windows of his palace noticed the smoke from the fire caused by the raiders and sent a fleet of Turkish galleys in pursuit. The Ottomans caught up with the Cossacks opposite the mouth of the Danube. The Turkish forces were, however, defeated and the admiral was captured.[4]

In order to punish the Zaporozhians, the next year, the Turkish sultan sent the fleet under the command of Admiral Ali-Pasha. Turkish galleys crossed the sea and entered the Dnieper estuary, where they were met by Cossack boats under command of Petro Konashevich-Sagaidachny. The Zaporozhians defeated the Turkish squadron, seized a dozen galleys and nearly a hundred boats. Commander Ali-Pasha barely managed to escape.

After that, the Cossacks again went out to sea, rounded the Crimea and landed on the shore near the largest Black Sea slavery market - Kaffa. The raid on that city is known as the battle for Kafa.

The raid was a morale boost to the Zaporozhians Cossacks, who were successfully attacking strongholds which the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth didn't dare to attack. European diplomats brought news of the Cossack raid to the West. French historian Michel Baudier wrote: "le seul nom des Cosaques était l'effroi et la terreur de Constantinople" ("The only mention of the Cossacks brings dread and terror to Constantinople").

• Cossack raid on Istanbul (1620)
• Cossack raids on Istanbul (1624)

1. Крип'якевич І., Гнатевич Б. та ін. Історія українського війська. – Львів, 1992. – С.193-194

2. "Cossack Navy 16th - 17th Centuries". geocities. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009.